May 1, 2014 mid afternoon…Photo by Mary Schamehorn. I’m glad Mary got a shot of this. When I got there, they were relatively peaceful.
4:38 pm…By the time I got there, the bees had settled within the birdhouse. I looked at it, determined I could remove it from the post, and got my tools together. Ha ha, the screws were rusty I couldn’t get them to budge before stripping them out. I had to remove the post too.
I placed it next to the newly assembled and baited Warre hive in my bee garden. I was hoping the bees would recognize a 4 star lodging with ample room to grow…they didn’t. I gave them plenty of time to reconsider, but they weren’t having it. I couldn’t leave them there, like that. I didn’t want to grind the brackets off or pry the birdhouse floor off because it would have been too stressful. “Dramatic and traumatic” are words I like to avoid in beekeeping.
Okay, I’ve got to move the birdhouse out of the bee garden because, well, we’ve got to be able to weed and water without the bees buzzing us. After two days, I pre-dug a post hole, waited til night and ‘posted’ the birdhouse among the ferns about 20 feet away. (Something most beekeepers would tell you NOT to do because the bees might not be able to find their way back to the hive.) I stuffed tissue paper into the entrance hole so the bees would notice something was different. They would have to make orientation flights all over again. I’m thinking that maybe the Warre was too close to the birdhouse…if I move it away, maybe they will want it more. My wife said I was crazy to think that. I says, ‘maybe,’ but we’ve got to get it out of the way.
Next day, the birdhouse/hive is in it’s new location. The bees are aware something is different because of the tissue paper stuffed in the entrance hole.
As my wife bicycled to town, I noticed a bunch of activity between the birdhouse and the Warre hive. I got my camera to document my findings…I was going to have it on camera so I could show her I knew what I was doing. They are fanning from the nasonov gland to indicate the queen is within. Wow, that didn’t take long. My wife is going to have to admit I was right, but I’ll be humble and admit it’s just a stroke of luck. But it was too good to be true. By the time she returned the crowd at the entrance was thinning and the bees rejected this hive once again.
Here is where they will stay. It’s the house they chose and while the location has changed a few times, the house is the same. I just wish I could have fastened it to a taller post.
Mary’s bees have settled in now. They have discovered the Poached egg meadowfoam.
Mary’s bee cleaning off her antennae. How do I know they are Mary’s bees? The abdomen colors are different. I’m happy to get new genetics in my bee yard.
May 10, 2014…as I was driving to Eugene, Oregon, we spotted fields of this beautiful plant. I asked about it and was referred to Heiko Koester, a garden consultant who specializes in edible, medicinal, and native plants.
Heiko Koester says, “The plant you saw was either Camassia leichtlinii or Camassia quamash. If it was knee-high or taller it was probably the former, if shorter probably the latter. Ethnobotanically speaking they are both fairly interchangeable.”
May 10, 2014…a honeybee can be seen looking for the perfect pollen source. In the video you can see the bee using her mandibles to pull the pollen off.
May 10, 2014…bee in flight over Camas. The flower-bee relationship can be seen when the flower opens a petal so the bee can get to the pollen. I missed it the first few times, so I marked it in the video.
April 28, 2014…Vernon’s first Perone hive is on the left. The colony in the older hive was started from a swarm 11 months ago. Clearly it over-wintered successfully under the Perone system.
In Vernon’s words…”This winter I built a second Perone hive. This version includes 16 ½ x 11 ¼ inch observation windows in the front and back of the brood box. The windows are 1/8 inch plexiglas that my local hardware store cut to size. The plexiglas was so easy to work I bought two additional pieces to cover the roof and another to serve as a lid over the brood box grid bars. The roof covers were adhered to the wooden roof and sealed on all sides with beads of aquarium-safe silicone cement. The window covers were made of knotty pine. Otherwise the design of my two hives is the same.
A better view of plexiglass on roof of new hive on right
Lacking a swarm, I decided to stock the new hive with purchased bees. A 3 pound package arrived April 15. After a night in my garage, the package was placed unopened within the Perone hive brood box for 40 hours to allow the bees to acclimate. Then I opened the package, removed the queen’s cage, and suspended the queen’s cage under a centrally located top bar using masking tape.
April 18, 2014…The queen in her hanging cage was immediately surrounded by a mass of attendants.
The next day I let the queen out of her cage. After a few hours the queen and her attendants had moved in a mass to the north-west corner of the brood box grid, where they seemed content to settle. Hopefully I won’t use the observation windows so often that I (negatively) impact the success of the colony.
The bees had been packaged with enough syrup to feed them for a week, and I’d been warned that they might need that much time to accept their new queen. However, when I opened the package the feeder was empty. Probably the syrup had leaked out.
Feeling guilty that I should have released the bees from the package sooner, I made a very simple jar-lid-and-rocks syrup feeder and refilled it occasionally for four days. The bees fed from it, but not very much, and after four days I removed it.
A lot of dead bees were observed inside and outside the new hive during the first six days after freeing the queen. Since then I’ve found very few dead bees and the overall foraging behavior of the colony has become more purposeful and successful. About 10% of the foragers are returning with bright yellow pollen.
A week after the new bees were introduced, the two colonies display similar behaviors at their hive entryways.
Early in June the physical appearance of the foragers should change a bit. The queen of the new hive is a Carniolan variety, but the bees shipped with her in the package are all Italians.
Hive Inspection the Perone Way
When it isn’t too cold outside I find it restful to sit on a lawn chair about two feet in front of my hives and watch the foragers come and go. It’s a form of meditation. That’s what passes for hive inspection at my apiary. The foragers never sting me. When it’s cold the bees stay inside and no inspection is possible.
I’ve been told that my bees have mites because all hives in the USA have mites. Perhaps that’s true, but I’ve never observed any sign of any disease. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough. But if mites are present they don’t seem to be a threat to the survival of my colony, at least not yet.
Some of my friends are trying to combat mites by keeping “hygienic” bees that are naturally vigilant in removing mites. The Russian honeybee strain is supposed to be hygienic, but I don’t know anyone who is raising them. Instead, several are going to “requeen” their hives by introducing queens from hives that are certified never to have been treated for mites. The fact that the queens are still alive without treatments makes them “hygienic.” To me this sounds like circular logic. An equally valid conclusion is that mite treatments reduce the capacity of a colony to fight infestation through normal comb maintenance. In other words, all bees are hygienic until poisoned.
Going into Winter, the comb occupied only a small fraction of the big Perone hive. It’s likely that the over-Winter population was quite small. Now the colony is a year old and business is booming at the entryway. The yellow pollen is almost certainly myrtle and the bees have been collecting it for months. The orange pollen is of unknown origin and sticky. Some foragers are returning smeared with it.
May 25, 2014 Vernon’s entry…”There’s been a population explosion in the year-old hive. During the warm hours the small entryway seems hardly adequate. To relieve congestion the bees have developed a traffic pattern with exit on the right and entry on the left. The system breaks down a lot but I’m still impressed.
I keep a couple of supers stored away. One of them has an entry, and stacking it on would give the old hive bees two doors. This morning I decided to take off the roof and look down through the bars to see if the hive is ready for the super. A clear plexiglas lid over the bars allows me to look inside the brood box without opening the hive and disturbing the bees too much. The bars are oriented north-south, and the eastern 3/4 of the hive looks full. Four or five bars on the western side aren’t being used yet. The brood box still has room, so I didn’t add the super.
While I was at it I looked into the new hive observation window. I take back all the bad things I said about my package bees, because they’ve been building comb like crazy. Next week I’ll take pictures to record six weeks of progress.”
May 27, 2014 Vernon’s writes…“Okay, I put the super on the year-old Perone hive. With decent honey now selling for $6/lb and up I’m counting on the girls to keep me well-stocked.
The 1/8 inch thick plexiglas lid was warped pretty badly and was letting in some water droplets. I replaced it with an indoor plywood lid over the super bars. Later I’ll replace the plexi lid on the new hive as well. Actually, the thin, construction-grade boards of the hive body are also warping in some places. If spaces open up I’ll probably seal them with fine mud. Maybe I’ll give the hive a fresh coat of linseed oil.
This morning I saw a blackberry flower moving…….A bee was buried in the blossom!…….Submerged in her work! I’m waiting for the blossoms to fall from the berries before I weed-wack them. Maybe I’ll save a few berryweeds for snacks, though they attract bears.”
June 1, 2014
For the last three days foragers from both of my colonies have been bringing back much less pollen. With all the blackberries and assorted wildflowers in bloom nectar should still be plentiful. A large number of drones were observed entering and leaving my older hive, more than ever before, but still no signs of swarming.
New hive six week check-up
Moisture droplets coated both observation windows, making photography difficult. Humidity in the hive must be quite high.
The new colony is building comb from the northeast corner of the hive out.
There are seven combs so far, suspended from the first seven bars numbered from the east wall. The space under the first bar was a solid mass of bees so I couldn’t actually see the comb. The combs are as ruler-straight and parallel as any I’ve seen. My other Perone colony disregards the top bar orientation and builds highly-irregular comb.
The maximum depth of the comb is 28 cm (a little over 11 in.).
This close-up shows the comb attendants are a mix of Italian and Carniolan varieties (Carniolans have darker abdomens). The package used to start the colony was comprised of Italian workers and a Carniolan queen, meaning that all the Carniolan workers in this photo were born in this hive. The package was shipped to me on April 15, so all the Italian bees shown are at least 47 days old.
July 1, 2014…The traffic at the entries of both of my hives seems slightly down from a late May/early June peak. Worried that my hives might be infected or invaded or something, I took the shutters off the new hive for a “10th week check-up.” Everything looked fine inside. Comb building is continuing at a fast clip. There are now eight combs, the largest of them just under 18 inches deep and 19 inches long.
July 1, 2014… A cute little ninth comb is just getting started. Water droplets on the window indicate high humidity, which concerns me, though the bees seem okay with it.
July 4, 2014…Some honey-filled cells are visible in this close-up. The queen of this colony is Carniolan, but the workers seem to include a number of Carniolan/Italian hybrids.
July 4, 2014 – Vernon added…Over 50% of my foragers are bringing back pollen today. That’s a new high. Most of the pollen is yellow, maybe sow thistle, which is growing anywhere in Klamath that isn’t being mowed. That includes my lawn, which I haven’t mowed in months because it’s full of wildflowers and the bees are all over them. Sweat bees and a little black thing (probably a fly) seem to prefer sow thistle, bumble bees like the purple clover, and honey bees go first to blackberries and white clover. There’s also a low-growing purple flowered weed that attracts all the pollinators. I like the idea of providing for the bees passively, by not mowing, rather than actively planting flowers the bees might like. Of course, if I lived in suburbia with neighbors who could see my house I’d probably be getting complaints about my ratty-looking yard.
August 1, 2014 – After much waffling I’ve decided to over-winter my older hive with the super in place. My first honey harvest will be next Spring, when the colony is about 24 months old. That’s in keeping with Perone’s recommendation that the first harvest should come at 18 months or more. Since adding the super May 27 the major nectar flows have been blackberry, clover and thistle. Bees make exceptional honey from all these sources, so it’s hard to resist putting it into bottles. But I’m just not confident the hive has enough stores in the brood box alone to last the winter.
The foragers have brought back very little pollen this week. Most of the wildflowers in my unmown lawn are shriveling away. There are still some thistle, and plentiful Queen Anne’s lace. My bees don’t seem to like Queen Anne’s lace much, but they are visiting them occasionally, probably because other flowers are getting scarce. Bumble bees have elbowed the other pollinators away from the few patches of red clover that remain. The only pollinators I’ve seen on my pretty-but-intrusive orange freesia weeds are hummingbirds.
Some of my beekeeper friends maintain that the nectar flow is virtually over in my area. They are feeding syrup now. Certainly the number of foragers from my older hive is decreasing, but the new hive is sending out more foragers than ever. I’m trying to learn how to assess nectar collection by comparing the relative abdomen circumferences of the bees entering and leaving the hive.
August 1, 2014 _ New hive fifteenth week check-up
On August 1 the shutters came off my newer hive for a quick assessment. Comb building continues and the colony has no observable disease. The population is quite high for a first-year colony (though several times lower than that of the older hive). The fixed-bar design of the Perone hive doesn’t permit direct observation of honey and pollen stores. However, foraging remains vigorous and comb area is more than sufficient, leading me to conclude that the colony is probably setting up well for the Winter.
Nine functional combs are now adhered to the north wall of the hive, and a tenth “baby comb” is underway. The largest combs have grown to 18.5 inches deep and 22 inches across, only an inch away from spanning the hive interior.
Second Perone hive, August 1, 2014…It was easy to shoot this close-up through the south window because the combs are almost touching it. Does anyone see signs of disease? To me this looks like a big thriving colony of Carniolans doing what bees do best.
August 1, 2014…Only 12 days ago the driveway leading to my house was lined with thistle flowers. Most have gone to seed now.
September 2, 2014
It’s been a dry year in California and my place is parched. The forager numbers are down for both of my hives, especially the older one. I doubt there is much nectar available to them. Last week the foragers brought back a lot of orange pollen and smaller amounts of other types. From a lot of observations I was able to confirm that the orange pollen comes from sow thistle. The newer hive produced a lot of drones this year and the workers are currently doing their best to expel those that remain.
A quick check inside the hive shows no measurable comb building occurred during August. The colony population also appears unchanged.
This view from the other window shows a lot of empty cells. Building additional comb now would probably be wasted effort. Carnies are noted for their early winter preparations, and everyone seems quite busy.
October 2, 2014 Vernon’s update…”Despite my firm resolution to leave my newer hive undisturbed until next Spring I couldn’t resist removing the shutters for a quick check inside. My previous check found no measurable comb added in August. Today I confirmed that none was built in September, either. Still, the hive is full of very busy bees. A moderate number of foragers are out, bringing back a modest amount of orange and yellow pollen. No drones have been seen for the last 2 weeks, which isn’t surprising since they were being mercilessly expelled during the prior 2 weeks.”
October 2, 2014…Comb building has stopped but the worker population remains steady.
October 7, 2014…Yesterday and today the foragers from both my hives have been out in big numbers, and they’ve been bringing back a lot of pollen, mostly orange pollen from sow thistle. When I checked the on-line weather report it said there was very little pollen from trees and none from grass and flowers in my area. So I know not to rely on pollen reports anymore. These little rains we’ve had have put the pollinators back to work.
October 19, 2014…My bees have been foraging in large numbers all week, bringing back lots of yellow pollen with an orange tinge. I’m seeing ivy flowers all over my neighborhood, and that’s probably the pollen source. An on-line article The honey and the ivy: Why gardeners’ foe is the bees’ friend says 80% of the foragers on ivy bring back nectar rather than pollen, meaning that virtually all my bees are probably on the ivy now.
Vernon
October 26, 2014
After the big storm…The runways of both hives were wet. There were 13 waterlogged corpses on the new hive runway, which I removed to get them out of the way. The older hive had only one runway casualty. Foragers were out in modest numbers but they weren’t bringing back pollen. In the 10 minutes or so I was watching one worker was expelled from each hive, a behavior I haven’t seen in months. I fought off the urge to take off the shutters and take a look inside.
After attending the funeral, I had just enough time to look for bees in a desert setting. Just for a little variety, I wanted to photograph bees getting pollen in the Arizona desert where I grew up.
In my quest for bees, I spied these two green parrots nesting in a saguaro cactus. Footnote, Lauren Harter has ID’ed these as Rosy-faced Lovebirds.
I so wanted to get some photos of bees on this bush, but I never saw a single one.
The Palo Verde trees (Parkinsonia aculeata ) were in full blossom at the airport, but it was impossible to get off the shuttle to set up a camera. Out here, the trees were just coming into bloom, but still no bees on them.
Yellow blossoms…Is it Grey Desert Senna (Senna artemisioides subsp. sturtii)? I don’t know, but it was a beautiful desert setting in someone’s front yard with Mexican Fence Post to the left, saguaro in the background, and prickly pear in foreground right…no bees, though.
A rock is embedded in this young saguaro. As it grew it must have carried it upward.
A desert bird. My knowledge of birds is completely underwhelming. “A Beehive Inside My Heart” says this looks like a Mourning Dove.
Jumping Cholla. This cactus doesn’t really jump, but if you’re walking close enough to brush it, a piece will break off and attach itself to you. It can penetrate a leather boot. If there is moisture such as contact with skin the tips will curve and lock themselves under the skin. There are actually two basketballs here, one slightly behind, left of the cactus.
I can picture a spirited basketball game where the ball gets away and bounces against a jumping cholla…and there it stays, because who wants to risk getting stuck with the sharp needles.
Gambel’s Quail hiding. They run fast out in the open, then hide under some cactus. On the video you can see it run between hiding spots.
Thanks to Lauren Harter for the name of this European Starling. In the video the bird just sits on the branch as if to listen to the other bird calls.
I asked the fence installers where I could find honeybees? They pointed to a broken cinder block that I had just about stepped on. There was my first sighting of bees.
At first I thought these had to be wasps, because I had never seen a ground hive of honeybees, but here they are with pollen baskets laden.
Ground hive bees packing orange pollen. I wonder where they’re getting it?
It’s almost time to get packed up and head back to Oregon when my son-in-law mentions he saw bees on the grapefruit trees at the house where we’re staying.
At last I find the bees, right in my own backyard.
One last desert setting at the Phoenix-Mesa airport. It’s great to visit at this time of year and while I miss the desert colors and bird song in the spring, there is no chance I want to visit in the summer.
The video features a daybreak orchestra of bird calls.
If there is moisture, such as with skin, the tips actually curve once they have made contact, locking their spines in place just underneath the skins top layer. OUCH!
Our cat likes to play in this grass. I have no idea why she likes it, but like it she does. When I had the camera out shooting the bees on the pussy willow last week, I caught her in the act.
Last year in June, before the deer discovered it, the bees were on the Meadowfoam everyday.
If you’ve ever watched the bees on a Poached Egg Meadowfoam (Limnanthes Douglasii), you will want to grow some for your bees. Last year I bought 12 plants from my friendly nursery (101 Plants). The bees were on them everyday. Unfortunately, the deer discovered them, and mowed them down. This year I’m happy to say I found a source for seeds. I’m buying 1000seeds for under $5.00 from Outside Pride in Oregon. With that many seeds, I can scatter them in quite a few areas (fenced in, this time). The bees will love them and so will I.
Another photo taken shortly before the deer decided to sample it last year.
I was under the mistaken impression that Meadowfoam was grown mostly in Oregon and Northern California, but I see the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain has a listing for it as a Poached Egg Plant.
The oil from Limnanthes Alba is valuable…According to Oregon Meadowfoam Growers, meadowfoam oil is 20 times more stable than soybean oil, which means it does not deteriorate as readily when exposed to air. A gallon of meadowfoam oil is worth about $200 retail.
February 2, 2014…the salvia is looking strong. Footnote…we replaced some bulbs in the light stand with the full spectrum bulbs this year hoping to lessen the legginess. These look good.
June 28, 2013…Penstemon is a great bumblebee attraction.
June 9, 2013…Honeybees are getting nectar from the Pincushion Flowers (Scabiosa)
Don’t forget the butterflies!
February 3, 2014…received my Butterflyweed seed package today. These bright flowers attract honeybees also.
One of the beekeeping blogs I follow, written by Emma Sarah Tennant, featured a TED talk by Marla Spivak, showing the reasons why bees are disappearing and how we can help them by planting habitat. We are proud to be a small part of a growing movement to help our wild pollinators.
January 14, 2013…a beautiful warm day brought the bees out to the heather. I saw very few honeybees, but very many bombus Melanopygus (this one) and also Bombus vosnesenskii (yellow-faced bumbles)
Here you can see the pollen release. When the bee gets the nectar, the pollen shoots out.
As she grooms herself with her front legs, you can see what looks to be a static electricity charge on her bee fuzz…it shows up better on the video.
This short video shows a bumblebee (bombus Melanopygus) sipping nectar from heather in mid January. As she sips, pollen can be seen shooting out. Later she grooms herself. I noticed what looked to be a static electricity charge when her front legs combed her fuzzy head.
I didn’t want to interrupt the music so I added some video of my Bee-atrice log hive which didn’t make it through the sub freezing weather. I looked at a comb which had some capped honey as well as uncapped cells. I replaced the comb in the hopes that this hive will attract a swarm in spring.
It should be raining sideways this month. It’s not. After our cold snap, we’ve been enjoying daytime temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s F. (10’s and 20’s C) When I filmed this it was 71 F. (22 C). Our honeybees love it. They are bringing back yellow and orange pollen. I can’t figure where they’re getting it because the pussy willows aren’t blooming yet, but traffic is heavy as can bee seen on the video.
This is my second winter with bees. They don’t fly when it’s raining of course, but we do get breaks in the rain, the sun pops out and the bees are flying. I feel bad for the beekeepers that must tuck their charges to bed in the autumn and trust they will emerge when the weather warms up sometimes months later. I’m talking about people like Emily Heath among others in cold far away places. 🙂 I guess you could say I’m spoiled to be able to see them active during the winter. I don’t know what will happen in spring. It’s possible we’ll get our rain then…given the choice, I’d rather get it now. In any case the bees are making use of the warm weather.
Sweet Thunder provides the delightful musical background for this video of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies at work in my garden on the Oregon Coast.
“An excellent source of blue pollen,” says BBHB, who has graciously given me permission to use his photo of Siberian Squill.
Planting instructions according to Wisconsin Master Gardening Program:Plant the small bulbs in the fall, placing them 2 to 3 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart. Because of the ephemeral nature of the foliage, this small bulb can easily be grown in sunny lawns. To plant Siberian squill in turf, scatter the bulbs randomly in the area you want them. Then punch or auger a hole in the sod, using a dibble or other implement (some people suggest a cordless drill with a large bit), wherever a bulb has fallen. Place the bulb (pointed side up) at the bottom of the hole and fill in with additional soil. Wait until the bulb’s foliage has started to die down in spring before resuming mowing the lawn.
That sounds easy enough. I’m planting them tomorrow.
One of the first spring-flowering bulbs, easy to grow, cold hardy, blue pollen for the bees..what’s not to like? It’s considered invasive.
Discussion about Siberian Squill on beesource.com Why is it that so many of the plants that bees like are considered invasive??? I’m planting anyway because it’s an early food source, good for the bees, can grow in my lawn, is deer resistant, and will go dormant by mid May.
November 9, 2013…The cordless drill worked well. I planted 50 bulbs of Siberian Squill hoping it would be enough to get videos of bees carrying blue pollen in March. Snowdrops will be going in as soon as I can find a source.
Mid October…the bees are bringing in baskets loaded with orange pollen.
When I saw how much pollen was coming into Bee Beard log hive, I wanted to find out where it was coming from. I knew it had to be ivy because that’s the only thing in bloom this late. I set out to prove my theory.
I went to my known ivy patches, which just happened to be in the sun…perfect.
Mid October…An American Painted Lady (I think)
I didn’t see any bees at this first place, but this butterfly posed for me long enough to get a short video. She is sipping nectar through her long proboscis which acts like a flexible straw.
This looks like a bee, but the eyes are different. It’s a fly who is grooming herself in the sun. The video shows her rubbing her front legs and using them to scrape the pollen off the top of her body.
I see Barbara out walking her dogs. She knows I’m obsessive about bees and mentions an ivy covered wall that was buzzing with bees. I head over.
This ivy wall was buzzing with bees…I’m going to get lots of opportunities to shoot bee videos.
I knew something was weird with this when her proboscis touched the top anther and rubbed it. It’s another fly that resembles a bee.
This looks like a white-trimmed black wasp, but it’s the wrong habitat for it. Can anyone ID it for sure? It’s another ‘buzzing insect’ working the ivy.
Celeste replied to my request to for an identification of this wasp… Pat, I am pretty sure that what you have are some lovely shots of the White-faced Hornet (Vespula maculata, also known as Dolichovespula maculata, not sure which name is the most current). The markings are quite distinctive, especially around the eyes and thorax, and this is the only West Coast wasp species that is white and black–all the others are yellow and black. These dudes are apparently aggressive little stingers, and the adults are predatory on small invertebrates, so I don’t think they’d be more than incidental pollinators. They make above-ground nests out of chewed wood pulp, but a colony only lasts for one year–they die off over the winter, except for females that mate at the end of summer and start new colonies the following spring. These are nice photos! Thanks, Celeste.
Finally I see an actual honeybee who is sipping nectar, but no pollen is evident.
Another look, but no pollen is visible.
I spot a bee on a dandelion, pollen sprinkled on her abdomen. A close look revealed none in her pollen baskets.
I can see I was mistaken about the pollen going into my hives. It can’t be ivy just yet…not sure what it is, but I’ll keep looking.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 